Word study
Shame
9 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “shame”. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “shame” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- בּוּשׁ bûshbe ashamedtranslated this way 52 times of its 125 uses · Strong’s H954Verb · Translated: ashamed 40, put to shame 36, shame 10, disgraced 8Full study and all 112 verses →
Psalm 25:2 in You, my God, I trust. Do not let me be put to shame; do not let my enemies exult over me.
Proverbs 12:4 A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but she who causes shame is like decay in his bones.
- בֹּשֶׁת bôshethshametranslated this way 23 times of its 30 uses · Strong’s H1322Noun · Translated: shame 23, shameful 2Full study and all 29 verses →
1 Samuel 20:30 Then Saul’s anger burned against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of the mother who bore you?
Job 8:22 Your enemies will be clothed in shame, and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”
- קָלוֹן qâlônignominy, dishonourtranslated this way 10 times of its 17 uses · Strong’s H7036Noun · Translated: shame 10, disgrace 3, dishonor 1, insult 1Full study and all 17 verses →
Job 10:15 If I am guilty, woe to me! And even if I am righteous, I cannot lift my head. I am full of shame and aware of my affliction.
Psalm 83:16 Cover their faces with shame, that they may seek Your name, O LORD.
- חֶרְפָּה cherpâhreproachtranslated this way 6 times of its 72 uses · Strong’s H2781Noun · Translated: reproach 30, disgrace 16, shame 6, scorn 6Full study and all 72 verses →
Genesis 30:23 and she conceived and gave birth to a son. “God has taken away my shame,” she said.
2 Samuel 13:13 Where could I ever take my shame? And you would be like one of the fools in Israel! Please speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.”
- עֶרְוָה ervâhnakedness, pudendatranslated this way 4 times of its 37 uses · Strong’s H6172Noun · Translated: nakedness 16, sexual relations 8, shame 3, vulnerable 2Full study and all 34 verses →
Leviticus 18:10 You must not have sexual relations with your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, for that would shame your family.
Isaiah 20:4 so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old alike, naked and barefoot, with bared buttocks— to Egypt’s shame.
- בּוּשָׁה bûshâhshametranslated this way 4 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H955Noun · Translated: shame 4Full study and all 4 verses →
Psalm 89:45 You have cut short the days of his youth; You have covered him with shame. Selah
Ezekiel 7:18 They will put on sackcloth, and terror will overwhelm them. Shame will cover all their faces, and all their heads will be shaved.
- כָּלַם kâlambe humiliatedtranslated this way 3 times of its 38 uses · Strong’s H3637Verb · Translated: humiliated 9, ashamed 7, disgraced 3, blush 2Full study and all 38 verses →
Psalm 35:4 May those who seek my life be disgraced and put to shame; may those who plan to harm me be driven back and confounded.
Proverbs 25:8 do not bring hastily to court. Otherwise, what will you do in the end when your neighbor puts you to shame?
- כְּלִמָּה kelimmâhinsult, reproach, ignominytranslated this way 3 times of its 30 uses · Strong’s H3639Noun · Translated: disgrace 18, reproach 3, shame 3, scorn 2Full study and all 29 verses →
Psalm 69:7 For I have endured scorn for Your sake, and shame has covered my face.
Ezekiel 32:30 All the leaders of the north and all the Sidonians are there; they went down in disgrace with the slain, despite the terror of their might. They lie uncircumcised with those slain by the sword and bear their shame with those who descend to the Pit.
- בָּאַשׁ bâashbe evil, badtranslated this way 2 times of its 17 uses · Strong’s H887Verb · Translated: become a stench 4Full study and all 17 verses →
Proverbs 13:5 The righteous hate falsehood, but the wicked bring shame and disgrace.
Isaiah 30:5 everyone will be put to shame because of a people useless to them. They bring neither help nor benefit, but only shame and disgrace.”
Greek words (New Testament)
- καταισχύνω kataischýnōI shame, disgrace, put to utter confusiontranslated this way 6 times of its 13 uses · Strong’s G2617Verb · Translated: never be put to shame 2, put to shame 2, shame 2, dishonors 2Full study and all 12 verses →
Romans 9:33 as it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense; and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”
1 Corinthians 1:27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
- αἰσχύνη aischýnēshametranslated this way 3 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s G152Noun · Translated: shame 3, shameful 2, humiliation 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Philippians 3:19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on earthly things.
Hebrews 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
- ἐντροπή entropḗshametranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G1791Noun · Translated: shame 2Full study and all 2 verses →
1 Corinthians 6:5 I say this to your shame. Is there really no one among you wise enough to arbitrate between his brothers?
1 Corinthians 15:34 Sober up as you ought, and stop sinning; for some of you are ignorant of God. I say this to your shame.
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
What the Bible says about shame: passages by topic →
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.